Too Much Trust Too Much Pain
by SSEE729
Summary: Nick always attempts to look beyond a person's flaws in order to see the good in them when perhaps there isn't good in them at all. What will happen when Nick is the only one that does not give up on a teenage suspect, and what will he get in return?
1. What's Your Name?

Nick Stokes walked into the Las Vegas Police Station with a knot in the pit of his stomach. He hated cases that involved kids; they all did. It was part of the job, and as much as he wished it wasn't, as much as he hated his job on those days, which by the way were becoming more and more often, he still had a job to do. He had to detach himself emotionally and do what he did best. Put the pieces together.

He had just come from the gruesome crime scene; drenched in blood, littered with the remains of two teenage boys. They couldn't have been more than fifteen, and now they never would be. He had taken pictures of the victims, processed the scene with Greg, and had been called to the police station by Captain Brass to collect evidence off of the main suspect; another fifteen year old boy. The day just kept getting better and better.

Nick didn't understand how a person could kill another human being; or well he used to be naïve to such a notion. He had recently experienced himself how someone could murder another in cold blood, for he himself had almost killed someone, and most days he wished he had pulled that trigger, and still most days he hated himself for thinking in such a manner. He was filled with rage, uncontrollable anger, and the desire for revenge. McKeen had murdered his best friend. He had _killed_ Warrick Brown. But how a child, a young boy, could muster such comparable rage, such an overwhelming urge to kill another, was beyond him. He was well into his thirties and he had only felt that way once. This boy was fifteen. And the empathetic side of Nick was sympathetic toward whatever it was in this kid's life that made him feel that way.

Nick walked down the dimly lit hallway toward the interrogation room Brass had called him to, and the knot in his stomach deepened as he got closer and closer to the room; completely dreading what he was going to have to do.

He turned the handle on the door a few seconds later and walked inside the smallish room which was quickly becoming heated by the humid summer air. It was barely noon and the temperature had already toppled over one hundred degrees. It's gonna be a hot one. Nick thought to himself.

Brass acknowledged Nick with an upward jolt of his head as Nick walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Nick nodded back and placed his silver crime scene kit on the metal table in front of him. He looked at the kid sitting across the table and his heart dipped a little. _Why do they keep getting younger and younger?_ He asked himself, half expecting an answer.

The boy had straight, shaggy, brown hair that extended just over the top of his ears, of which his green-blue eyes contrasted greatly. The kid was skinny, and from what Nick could tell, the kid looked pretty tall for his age. His height or maybe an inch shorter.

"My names' Nick Stokes" Nick said as he started taking a fingerprint kit out of his silver case. He looked back up at the kid when he didn't inform him of his name, and the boy merely cocked his head and gestured with his hands in a manner that said _So what? Who cares?_ Nick glanced at Brass quickly before carrying on, and Brass simply rolled his eyes at the kid's attitude as if to say, _This one's a punk._

"I'm a Crime Scene Investigator. I'm going to collect some evidence off of you. Take your fingerprints. Check your clothes for any evidence that might be located on them." Nick continued on and received a blank stare from the young man across the table from him.

"Can you give me your hands please" Nick asked the kid politely regardless of the fact that the kid had barely even acknowledged Nick. The kid took his hands which were resting atop the table and slowly folded them across his chest, obscuring them from Nick.

Nick sighed out loud, "C'mon. Let me see your hands please. If not I can have my friend Ben over here help you" he motioned toward the greatly muscular cop standing in the corner of the room. "It's up to you" This time the kid merely shrugged and gave Nick a sarcastic smirk.

"Alright, enough with the crap" Brass said strongly as he made his way closer and closer to the kid. "Give Mr. Stokes your hands . . . _now_" He strongly emphasized that last word as he leaned in closer to the boy.

The kid smiled and took his hands out of concealment and placed them onto the table as they were before. Nick moved in closer to the kid and picked up one of his hands. He pressed the kid's thumb into an ink pad and then expertly rolled his finger over the correct slot on the fingerprint form. The kid also leaned in closer to Nick, looked at him with a smile, and spit right in his face.

"Hey!" Brass hollered as he yanked the kid up out of the chair by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forcefully over to the doorway. "That's enough, kid!"

"Jim!" Nick shouted as he wiped the spit off of his forehead. "It's fine" Nick began as he turned around to face Brass and the kid who were now behind him. "It's fine" he repeated himself.

Brass huffed out some steam through his nose and jerked the kid back over to the table, practically throwing him back down in his seat. "You're lucky you got him processing you! If it was me you spit on . . ." Brass began to shake his head back and forth as a sarcastic smile ran across his face. He pulled a chair right beside the kid and sat directly next to him, one hand on the kid's shoulder. "Behave" Brass ordered.

The kid just sneered. "I'll be a good boy" The boy said mockingly. He flung his arm out to Nick in a rude manner and starred at Nick with an insincere grin.

Nick took the kid's hand and finished fingerprinting him. He placed the chart down on the table. "What's your name?" Nick asked the kid with a solemn expression. "Ask me nicely" the kid spat out in a sing song voice.

Nick shook his head from side to side as a sarcastic smile spread across his face. Brass glared at the kid with wicked eyes. "What's your name" Nick stated again in a forceful tone. The kid leaned forward with a hand cupping his ear, "I didn't hear the magic word" the kid sang again.

Nick glared at the kid and Brass chuckled sardonically. "What's your name, please" Nick uttered. The kid nodded. "Magic words can get you a long way" he continued.

"Your name" Nick's voice grew louder, more powerful. The kid put his hands up in a surrender like motion. "Jaden" He said through a sly smirk.

"Last name" Brass ordered as his grip on the kid's shoulder got tighter. "Landon" The kid declared.

"Well, Jaden" Nick began as he took some more supplies out of his kit, "I'm going to need to check your clothes for evidence so if you could stand up please" Nick took out his ALS and his special orange goggles that allowed him to see organic matter with the ALS, out of his kit.

"You know," Jaden started, "I think I'm gonna sit, but thanks for asking" He nodded toward Nick. Brass snapped and again ripped the kid up out of his seat. "The man said get up"

"Okay, okay" Jaden chuckled as he stood beside the table, arms folded across his chest. He shook his head in one swift motion, causing his shaggy hair to stir around.

"Jim, can you get the lights?" Nick asked as he placed his goggles over his eyes and turned on his ALS. Brass flicked the lights off and walked back over to his place beside Jaden.

Nick swept the illuminating blue light over Jaden's torso, but nothing lit up; his clothes were blood free. He swept the device over the rest of Jaden's body and came up with nothing. "You can turn them back on now, Jim" Nick directed as he switched off his ALS and removed the goggles.

"What'd you do? Huh? Did you change your clothes?" Brass asked the kid as he got closer and closer to Jaden, looking at him with scorn.

"Nah man, like I told you earlier. I didn't kill those guys." Jaden smiled and shrugged innocently. "You got the wrong guy." Jaden said as he smirked back up at Brass.

"Like hell" Brass uttered as he looked across the table at Nick who was now removing something else from his kit. Nick took out supplies to test for gun shot residue and dabbed the sticky device over Jaden's hands. He looked at it when he was finished. Nothing.

"Negative for GSR" Nick informed Brass who looked back at him with a look of disbelief. "What'd you do? Wash your hands too?" Brass glared at Jaden who was still smiling idiotically.

"Nah. I already told you. I just didn't kill those guys." Jaden shook his head from side to side slowly as if this entire interrogation was a game. A game that he was winning. A game in which he could control the outcome.

"Can I go already?" Jaden asked impatiently as he started to rise from his chair. Brass gave the kid an "are you kidding me" type look as he grabbed onto the kid's arm, about to shove him back down into the chair, "Absolutely not."

"Jim" Nick interrupted. Brass gave him a look that said _what the hell are you doing,_ but Nick continued anyway. "We have no evidence to hold him."

Brass couldn't believe what his friend was saying. This kid was a punk. A puke. A disrespectful jerk. He had spit on Nick. He was practically mocking the murders of two teenage boys. And Nick wanted to let him go. The hard part was that Nick was right. Brass had no evidence to hold Jaden on, and as much as he disliked it, he was going to have to let the kid go.

"See!" Jaden said to Brass as he pointed a finger in Nick's direction. "Listen to this guy" Jaden looked up toward Nick, "What'd you say your name was . . . Nate?"

"Nick" Nick replied coldly. "Yea, whatever" Jaden shrugged Nick off, " . . . listen to this guy."

Brass sighed a deep, long sigh, as did Nick. "Jaden Landon, you're free to go." Brass said reluctantly. At this, Jaden jumped out of his chair. "Sweet" he smiled as he walked over to the door. "Nice talking to ya fella's" and with that Jaden walked out of the interrogation room and out side.

"This sucks" Brass said as he and Nick walked out of the interrogation room together and down the hall. "The kid did it. He practically bragged about it, and we have to let the little punk walk just because we don't have any evidence to hold him yet."

"Yea" Nick sighed out as Brass poured them both a cup of coffee. "Well, if Jaden did do it, then we'll find evidence of it and arrest him." Nick finished as he took a sip of the disgusting sludge.

Brass almost spit his coffee back up. "_If_ he did it? _If_? Nick, buddy, I know you CSI guys are all about the evidence and whatnot, but this kid murdered Carson Virder and Hudson Gaines. I know he did."

Nick shrugged. "Well, right now Jim, there's no evidence to support that. I can see that the kid's a punk but that doesn't necessarily mean he murdered Carson and Hudson."

"I can't believe this" Brass put his coffee down on the table next to him, and gestured with his hands in a, _what the hell,_ sort of manner. "Who's side are you on Stokes?"

"The victims'" Nick said earnestly. "As much as it may suck, Jim . . . the accused are assumed innocent until proven guilty, and Jaden deserves that right."

"He murdered two fifteen year old boys, Nick!" Brass shrieked with annoyance.

"We don't know that Jim. It's a horrible thing that those boys had to die and justice will be served. But we have to make sure it's to the right person. We can't jump to conclusions. I want to get the guys who murdered Hudson and Carson just as much as you do, but I also want to arrest the right guy, so that the real guy isn't free to kill more innocent victims."

.


	2. A Change of Character

The day after Nick had interrogated Jaden, he came into work with the same deepening knot churning in his stomach. Today he would have to go to the autopsies of Hudson Gaines and Carson Virder and he was dreading the occasion with such anxiety it made him nauseous. He walked into CSI Headquarters with the intention of looking through the case file and pictures he and Greg had taken yesterday at the scene. He had planned to meet Greg in the layout room, and then the both of them would head to the morgue together.

However, when Nick saw Jaden Landon leaning against the reception desk with a grim expression, his plans changed. Nick walked over to Jaden a bit confused as to why the young man had come to CSI headquarters, and despite the fact that Judy, the receptionist, would be back any minute now, he decided to stop and talk to him.

Before Nick could even say anything, Jaden pushed off the receptionist desk and made his way toward Nick as relief spread across his face. "Hey." Jaden said with a single upward jolt of his head.

"Hello Jaden." Nick replied with a hint of confusion. "Can I help you with something?" He continued as he glanced around him, looking for the reason the kid was here.

"I ugh," Jaden began as he hung his head, "I ugh . . . just wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday." He lifted his head and looked Nick directly in the eye. "I'm sorry." Jaden spoke with sincerity and he stretched his hand out toward Nick.

Nick, baffled by the kid's sudden extreme character change, extended his hand and shook Jaden's. "Apology accepted" Nick declared with a smile. He looked at Jaden with confusion pouring out of his eyes. Jaden understood the glance, for he had received it frequently by many, and simply nodded his head.

"When I'm in pressure situations I panic." Jaden explained. "I just . . . I just don't know what to do so I become aggressive . . . defensive." He looked up at Nick for a brief second before continuing. Nick merely nodded his head in understanding.

"You see," Jaden continued as he let his head hang low once again, " . . . my brother, Parker, is a bit of a . . ." Jaden hesitated before continuing, " . . . well, he's a bit of a trouble maker." Jaden shrugged as he continued on. "He's in juvy now. He caused a lot of trouble around this town. I mean shootings, stabbings, drugs . . ." Jaden's voice trailed off and he looked up at Nick.

"I'm sorry" Nick said sincerely with a quick nod of his head. "That must be tough"

Jaden simply smirked at Nick's reply. "Yea," Jaden huffed out angrily, " . . . and the best part is when cops like Brass assume you're just like you're older brother. Even when you claim you didn't do anything." Jaden shook his head from side to side a few times before looking back up at Nick, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

"Yea, well, evidence is everything. If you didn't do this, then we will be able to prove it. Don't worry. Your reputation as your brother's sibling won't interfere in the outcome of this investigation. If you're innocent, the evidence will be prove so. The evidence doesn't lie." Nick reassured the kid as best as he could.

As of late, especially since Grissom left, Nick found himself saying more and more things he would have never ever said before. _The evidence doesn't lie_. That wasn't him, that was Grissom. Or maybe it was the part of Grissom that was still inside of him, the part that lived in his heart, the part that Nick carried with him.

Jaden nodded unconvincingly. "One little mistake and you're blamed for everything."

"What'd you mean?" Nick asked curiously. He had no idea what the kid was referring to.

"I was arrested for possession a few months back by Captain Brass, and now every time something goes down he always comes chasing after me even when I have no idea what the hell is going on. Brass just likes to pin stuff on me 'cause of my brother . . . I'm telling you Mr. Stokes, I didn't do this."

Nick acknowledged Jaden's transistion in the sense of respect. In less then twenty-four hours the kid had gone from calling him _this guy . . . whatever_ to _Mr. Stokes_.

Nick nodded slightly. "Like I said Jaden, the evidence will tell us what went down. And if it doesn't point to you then it doesn't point to you. We'll just have to wait and see. Not much we can do in the meantime."

Jaden shrugged and gave a quick nod. "Okay. Thanks man. I gotta run, but I ugh . . ." Jaden lifted his eyes to look into Nick's as he stretched out his hand again. "I'm sorry. My parents think I might be bipolar or something . . . depressed maybe . . . hell I don't know. But I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Nick nodded reassuringly, "Apology accepted." Nick said as he shook Jaden's hand. "Bipolar's tough. You're a brave kid." Nick spoke from experience. His nephew, Ryan, suffered from bipolar and he knew how hard some days could be for him. He felt bad for Jaden, but he still had a job to do. He couldn't get too emotionally or personally involved. He had done that too many times before and had learned the hard way that even if it wasn't easy, and even if it felt wrong to him, it was better if he tried to detach himself a bit from the cases he worked.

So far, the whole detaching himself aspect, hadn't exactly worked out. Nick couldn't help it. It was just who he was as a person. He tended to empathize with the people involved in his cases, and oftentimes it was too difficult for him not to. For Nick Stokes, empathizing with the people involved was part of the job. Maybe not for any of Nick's other colleagues, but for Nick, empathizing was just what he did. Like taking fingerprints.

"Thank you." Jaden uttered with a nod as he turned and walked past Nick toward the exit. He opened the door, and walked outside and down the sidewalk before he was out of view.

Nick, his mood a bit lifted by this run in, walked toward the lay out room with the knot in his stomach a bit less harsh. Yes, two young boys were still dead. Nothing could change that. But only now, it may not have been another young boy who killed him.

"Hey Greggo" He said as he entered the room and placed a file on the table in front of him. "What've you got?"

"Well," Greg started, " . . . DNA came back on the blood drops at the crime scene. It appears that Carson," Greg said as he pulled a photograph up off the table and handed it to Nick, " . . . was shot before Hudson."

The photograph was of the position of the boys' bodies and the blood spatter around them. "This," Greg pointed to a section of blood spray between the two boys, " . . . is a mixture of both Carson and Hudson's blood. However," Greg said pointing his finger to the blood, "these blood droplets are Hudson's and this one," Greg then handed Nick a different photograph, which was zoomed in on the blood droplets they were now currently examining, " . . . this one is Carson's, and its partially covered by Hudson's blood. Meaning," Greg looked up at Nick, " . . . that Carson's blood was already on the ground when Hudson was shot."

Nick nodded. "Good work Greggo." Greg bowed his head and extended his arms to the side as if completing a curtsy. "Why thank you sir." He replied.

As Nick placed the pictures down on the table his phone vibrated on his belt. He grabbed it and glanced at the text. It was Doc Robbins._ Starting the autopsy of Carson Virder in fifteen minutes._

Nick quickly texted back, _I'll be there in ten._ He glanced over at Greg who was looking through the photos, taking notes of things that appeared relevant in each. _We both don't have to go_. Nick thought to himself.

"That was Doc Robbins." Nick said as much to himself as to Greg. "I'm going to Carson and Hudson's autopsies. I'll be back in a few hours. Keep looking through these photos and the evidence we collected yesterday. Try to narrow down to something that might give us our guy. Shoe treads, fibers, anything. Check with Wendy; see if any of the blood samples were not from either Carson or Hudson."

Greg appeared slightly confused. He looked at Nick with squinted eyes and gestured with his hands as he cocked his head slightly. "I thought we were both going."

"No" Nick let out a bit more strongly than intended. "I need you to stay here and go through this evidence." Truth was Nick actually didn't want Greg to have to witness the autopsies of two fourteen year old boys. Hell, he wished he didn't have to see it, but he wasn't going to have to have more people than needed be traumatized by this ordeal.

Despite Nick's lousy cover-up, Greg knew Nick was merely looking out for him, but he was nonetheless a little offended. "Nick, I can handle it. I'm not a newbie anymore. I've been a CSI for almost five years now."

Nick nodded, "I know you can Greg, but I need you here." Nick half-lied. Sure they had to go through the evidence they collected, but it wouldn't hurt if Greg came to the autopsy either. Or maybe it would. In Nick's mind, it would hurt Greg. "I'll check in later. Text me with anything." And with that, Nick vanished.

"Alright" Greg partially sighed out, but Nick was already gone. "I'll see you later." He said to an empty room, as he bent down over the pictures on the table and got to work.


	3. A Break in the Case

After his visit to the morgue, Nick knew that Carson and Hudson had died at around three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Both boys were shot once at close range, directly into the chest, and then again two more times each after they had fallen to the ground.

This told Nick that the boys had probably known their assailant. _Who would let somebody they didn't know approach them with a gun?_ No defensive wounds on either boy either. This further supported Nick's theory, and narrowed down the suspect pool.

Images of the young, lifeless, boys being cut open, Doc Robbins displacing their organs, displaying them to Nick, pointing to this such thing or that rushed through Nick's head. Nick hadn't thrown up at an autopsy in almost ten years. Today he had to swallow the bile back down. He was eager to get back to the lab.

Nick told Greg what he had learned at the morgue and about his theory that the boys had known their attacker. Greg nodded in understanding before sharing with Nick what he himself had discovered.

"I asked Wendy about any blood not matching our victims', and she said that the blood smear and skin we collected from beside Carson's body was not a match to either Carson or Hudson. She ran it through CODIS, no match. Greg shook his head from side to side. "But she did say that it was male DNA." He added.

Nick merely nodded, "Alright," Nick began, " . . . so an unknown male, perhaps our killer, kneeled beside Carson to deliver the final shots and scrapped his knee."

"Maybe." Greg nodded in agreement.

"Okay" Nick spoke again, " . . . anything else?"

"Yea," Greg said as he picked up a photograph and pointed to a chunky, black and gray ring in the shape of a skull. "I compared the initials on the ring . . . C.A.C . . . to the school roster for Carson and Hudson's high school." Greg explained as he handed Nick the packet of papers with the names of every Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior that were currently attending the boys' high school. "Only five names match the initials." Greg smiled before he continued on. " . . . a Senior Christopher Aaron Clemon, a Sophomore, Calvin Andrew Corley, another Sophomore, Caleb Alexander Crenshaw, a Junior, Charles Adam Crowning, and a Freshman, Courtney Anne Cinders." Greg finished with a smirk.

Nick looked from the picture of the ring to Greg, and back to the picture again. "Courtney?" He said skeptically as he pointed to the bulky, black, skull ring. He grinned as he looked up at Greg.

"Something tells me big, ugly, black, manly, gross, skull rings are probably not 'Courtney's' thing, but . . ." Greg's voice trailed off.

"It's worth looking into all of them." Nick finished. "Good work Greg"

"That's not it. The ring was found _on top of_ Hudson's body." Greg showed Nick a photograph of the ring. Hudson's back could be seen in the background, lifted so that the photograph could be taken. "Whoever's ring this is was there when Hudson fell to the ground."

Nick nodded a few times as he handed the photograph back to Greg. "Good work. What'd you say we talk to these kids."

"Sounds good to me" Greg said placing the photographs that were now splayed across the table back into the case file.

"Meet you outside in five" Nick said as he walked toward the door, but stopped just before he exited when Greg's voice urging him to wait.

Nick turned and faced his friend. "That kid," Greg began as he walked toward Nick, " . . . the one you and Brass interrogated yesterday, Jaden"

Nick nodded in acknowledgement of the kid Greg was talking about. ". . . we should collect his DNA. I know you guys didn't have a warrant yesterday and from what I hear the kid was anything but cooperative . . . but the blood at the scene could be his."

"Yea," Nick stated as he and Greg walked out toward the Tahoe. ". . . he came back in this morning to apologize. He seemed like a totally different person. Told me he might have bipolar or something and that he panics in situations like he was in yesterday."

"Really?" Greg asked in a tone that suggested his reply was a question yet a statement at the same time. He did not really think Nick's implications of the kid turning out to be a good person were exactly true.

"Yea" Nick said getting into the driver's side of the car. "I'll call him back in, see if he'll give us his DNA voluntarily or if we'll need a warrant. It can't hurt us to have his DNA. We'll either rule him out as a suspect or catch our guy." Nick didn't admit out loud that he was willing to bet they would still be looking for their guy even after they had Jaden's DNA.

_**TWO HOURS LATER**_

After two hours of interviewing four of the five high school students with initials of "C.A.C", Nick and Greg had only one more interview left to complete. The principle of the high school, Mr. Kellen, who was assisting Nick and Greg by bringing them the students they asked for, walked into the conference room that Nick and Greg had been using as an interview room, with the last interviewee. Calvin Andrew Corley.

Nick and Greg both desperately hoped to get something from Calvin. Even if the kid didn't kill Carson and Hudson, he may have been there when it happened. He may know who did.

The other four interviews had yielded nothing useful to their case. Christopher, Caleb, Charlie, and Courtney knew nothing about the murders besides the fact that Carson and Hudson had been killed. And they knew nothing about the ring. The kids didn't seem suspicious, and after years of interviewing suspects, Nick could tell that their claims were genuine.

"Hi Calvin" Nick said as he motioned toward the teen with an outstretched hand. "Sorry to pull you out of class, but we've got to ask you a few questions."

Calvin chuckled slightly. "That's alright. I was in math." This remark earned a quick smirk by both Nick and Greg, and Calvin shook Nick's hand before sitting down.

"My name's Nick Stokes," Nick gestured toward himself and then to Greg, " . . . and this is Greg Sanders. We're from the crime lab."

"Is this about Carson and Hudson?" Calvin asked quizzically. He looked to Nick and then to Greg with sad eyes before speaking again. "The whole school's talking about it."

"Yes." Nick began, " . . . it is. We just have to ask you a few quick questi-" Nick started to explain but was interrupted abruptly.

"What happened to them" Calvin shot out in and aggressive tone. "Who would do this?" Calvin started again, this time sounding even more angry. "They were both such good kids."

Nick and Greg shared a glance before Greg asked what they both were wondering. "You knew Carson and Hudson?"

Calvin looked up at Greg in disbelief and his eyes started to tear up. His eyes became covered with a watery film, and with a blink, a single droplet slid down Calvin's face. "They were my _best_ friends."

Nick and Greg shared another quick glance as Calvin wiped the tear away from his face. They had no idea that Calvin was so close to Carson and Hudson.

"I'm sorry" Nick said softly as he and Greg sat down across from the kid. "That's hard . . .I know" He added the last two words even softer, almost hesitantly, as if he really did not want to know how it felt. But he did.

Greg looked toward Nick and understood exactly. Warrick had been his friend as well. The three of them had been really close, but Greg knew that Nick and Warrick always had a closer relationship. They had been friends for a long time.

It had really hurt when Warrick had been killed. Greg didn't know what to do. He felt useless, incapable, and guilty. No, it hadn't been his fault that Warrick had been shot, he had reasoned with himself after a while. But he still couldn't help but think that maybe if he hadn't left early to catch his flight maybe he would have been with Warrick. Maybe McKeen wouldn't have shot his friend. Maybe McKeen would have shot him instead. Maybe . . .

"I know this is hard, Calvin . . .but we really need to ask you a few questions if that's alright" Greg said slowly.

Calvin cleared his throat. "Yea . . ." He wiped at his face. "That's fine."

Greg nodded his thanks and pulled out a picture from the file on the table. "Do you recognize this ring?"

Calvin looked to the picture to Greg and then to Nick, and then back to Greg. "You found it!" He said happily.

Greg and Nick shared a glance. "This is yours?" Nick said a little confused.

Calvin shook his head no, and then quickly shook his head yes. "No . . .well, yea. It was my dad's, his name was Calvin Andrew Corely too, but he gave it to me . . .before he died." Calvin said the last few words slowly, but there was still a smile on his face. "Where'd you find it?"

Greg and Nick shared another glance. They certainly weren't going to tell Calvin exactly where they found it. He didn't need to know that it was on his friend's body. "At the crime scene" Nick said quickly.

The smile on Calvin's face started to fade. "At . . .Carson and Hudson's . . . crime scene?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yea" Greg said softly. Calvin nodded and pushed the picture away.

"When did you lose the ring, Calvin?" Nick said, changing the subject.

"Umm . . . well, I didn't lose it." Calvin said a bit angrily. "Someone stole it out of the locker room after a hockey game" He explained.

"Out of the school locker room?" Greg asked as he wrote something down on the paper.

"Yea" Calvin nodded.

"And when was this?" Greg asked him.

Calvin shrugged. "It was after our last home game . . .so about two months ago"

"We're going to need the names of all the players on that team" Nick said.

"Sure" Calvin said. "I've got a roster in my locker."

Greg and Nick followed Calvin to his locker. The boy opened it, and posted on the locker door was a list of names. He took it off and handed it to the CSIs.

"I think I knew who did it . . ." Calvin's voice trailed off.

Both Nick and Greg read down the list and stopped halfway through. One name caught their eyes. Jaden Landon.


End file.
